Breaking News: Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Upheld
By a narrow 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld a federal law banning the late-term abortion procedure called ‘intact dilation and extraction,’ better-known by the label ‘partial-birth abortion.’ This is a major victory for the pro-life cause. Partial-birth abortion (as we have discussed in an earlier post), has been called by one author [...]
Greeting Cards and Abortion
The latest in the abortion debate seems a bit bizarre. Exhale, a post-abortion counseling group, is now offering a variety of supportive E-cards to send to women who have recently undergone an abortion. The cards include attractive pictures of flowers or mountains. One version expresses the sentiment: I think you’re strong, smart, thoughtful, and caring. [...]
Aborting the Less-Than-Perfect
During early fetal development, sometimes the esophagus fails to develop normally, a condition known as esophageal atresia. This happens once in about 3500 pregnancies, and doctors can frequently diagnose this condition by ultrasound prior to birth. Except that sometimes the doctors are wrong. In a teaching hospital in Florence, Italy, a woman had an abortion [...]
How to Have an Argument (6)
Our March Podcast is an “argument” about abortion with Aaron Costerisan, our Center for Bioethics Fellow. We conduct this argument in two ways. First we break all the rules of respectful debate (see if you can spot our errors). Then we analyze our mistakes and try again. Hopefully, we do better the second time. Our [...]
Seeing These Calamities to Their End
January 21st was National Sanctity of Human Life Day. On this day, 34 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion for any reason. Our guest blogger this week is Murray Vasser, President of Cedarville Students for Life. In 1783 the slave trade dominated the world’s economy and was deeply entrenched in a morally oblivious [...]
The Year in Review
As we enter the new year, a look back at 2006 may give us perspective. Unfortunately, this has not been a particularly good year for the notion that human beings have inherent value. In fact, human personhood as a concept took a downward turn, replaced by a disturbing ‘end justifies the means’ mentality. A few [...]
Reality Check for Plan B
It’s about time, claims bioethicist Arthur Caplan. In a recent commentary on MSNBC, Dr. Caplan, Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, lauds the recent decision to make emergency contraception (also known as Plan B or the “morning-after pill”) available without a prescription. After all, he goes on, preventing pregnancy is [...]
A ‘Genetic Outlaw’ Speaks Out
A law professor in Minneapolis has recently become an “outlaw” in the eyes of some. Her crime? She chose not to have an abortion when she received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Elizabeth Schiltz had her baby anyway, and writes about her experience in Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics (2006, Spinifex Press). [...]

